As the FIA Formula E championship arrives in France for the inaugural Paris ePrix this weekend, Bruno Senna is hoping for a clear weekend that will enable to Brazilian driver to secure a good points finish.
The Mahindra Racing driver bemoaned the issues that have cost him and his team better results, with two fifth places the best results so far, but feels the potential is there for even better should they have a trouble free weekend.
“[The season has gone] not as well as I expected,” said Senna to The Checkered Flag. “We had a few too many problems this year with some mechanical issues and everything, and I think that put us on the back foot a lot.
“Whenever we’ve had a clear race we’ve scored good points, Malaysia where we had a great chance of doing great my gearbox failed me and we still finished P5 so I think the potential is there when everything is going well.
“But we’ve failed too many times to have a clear race weekend so that’s put me on the back foot a lot, but that’s motor racing for you and you’ve just got to keep working on it and eventually it comes.”
Senna described the consequences of cutting chicanes in Formula E, particularly during last months ePrix at Mexico City, revealing it is not just time that drivers gain by cutting the chicanes but also energy, which is extremely important to conserve in the championship.
“I think they were very conservative with the track,” revealed Senna of the Mexican track, the first non-street track Formula E utilised. “In terms of actually letting us run a faster track, we ultimately had a track with many chicanes that people could cut. Whenever that happens and no action is taken, then it’s a bit of a disaster.
“I think it’s hard for people to understand just how much advantage you gain from cutting a chicane in Formula E, because not only the lap time you gain but also the amount of energy you spend and the consequences of that are enormous, a really big effect.
“I think maybe only the stewards know just how big the effect is, I’m a bit disappointed with that to be honest, but I think the event was fantastic, a lot of people there, and the support was good.”
Senna still has belief in the Mahindra Racing project, and expects big things from the team in season three, but is not taking for granted that he will be with the team for another year.
“They have a good project for next year,” said Senna. “If we are together next year it should be a good project, but I’ll take it one race at a time and hopefully we’ll go from there.”
